Evil clowns are a staple of Halloween festivities these days, but the City of Oak Park does not want them attending their Boo Bash.
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The City of Oak Park is throwing its annual Boo Bash at the Oak Park Community Center, but their latest advertisement for it has some riled up. The event listed off some features of their Boo Bash, saying that attendee will “enjoy cider and donuts’, ‘collect candy down our trick or treat street’, and show off your favorite costumes, but there is one note at the bottom that annoyed some, which says that ‘clown costumes not allowed.’
It seems odd that a staple like clowns wouldn’t’ be allowed to a Halloween event, but the city’s recreation director Laurie Stasiak explained why they have decided to keep clowns out.
“This event is centered around young children,” Laurie Stasiak told KSAT in an email. “In the past few years many clown costumes have been given a very scary and evil look. Many scary and horror movies are centered around these types of characters. About 3 years [ago] there were national incidents in the news were people were dressing up as clowns and scaring people and in some cases assaulting them. Many people have phobias and anxiety about clowns. It’s because of this that we asked people not to dress up as clowns for this community event.”
The city also released a notice about the Boo Bash event on their Facebook page, where they cleared up that while those with clown costumes aren’t banned, they do want parents to use their best judgment as young kids will be present. You can read the release below.
“Working alongside City staff, the city’s Parks and Recreation Commission makes a concerted effort to implement direct feedback they receive from the residents of our community concerning the annual Boo Bash event. Over the last few years, many parents gave direct feedback stating they were concerned their children would see clown costumes and relate it to scary movies that are targeted for an adult audience.
That said, the City, will not ban people with clown costumes (or any other) from participating in the Boo Bash event, however, we are encouraging parents to use their best judgment given this is an event that caters to families and small children.”
So where do you stand on this? Should any costume be allowed to the event or is it okay to draw the line since children are present? Let us know in the comments!
